(Opening) “Again, stating the obvious, Oregon is a really good basketball team. They play like a team that has experienced success in the past and they know exactly what it takes to be successful. They’re coming off of an Elite Eight, and they bring that past into each and every game with the way they go about their business. You can see that each and every one of them know their roles, they’re well coached, they know who’s supposed to take the shots, who’s not supposed to take the shots. They’re not only experienced with success but they’re experienced as a veteran team that just knows how to play. every time we made a mistake, we paid for it tonight, because they’re very efficient.”

(On not taking advantage of Oregon foul trouble) “Well, if you’re talking about putting the ball in the basket, you’re exactly right. We got the ball inside, we weren’t able to convert. We missed some free throws. We were getting the ball where we wanted to get it, but we weren’t able to convert. We weren’t able to make them pay.”

(On more defensive breakdowns and not responding to runs) “It’s very disappointing because (it was) the same thing against Washington State. Right now, our team, in terms of being a work in progress, we’re a little fragile when we hit adversity, and we haven’t been able to fight through adversity yet. We’re going to need to, because we’re about to go on the road here for a stretch. We’re playing good basketball, sound basketball, then the next thing you know, the team goes on a … run, and it’s hard for us to collect ourselves right now and fight through it. In the second half, I believe it was close to 11 minutes left ... it was still an eight-point game at that time, but it just seemed like they were so much further out in front of us. But the game was still within reach, there’s no doubt. But we didn’t handle the situation very well.”

(On not finding 3-point shooters) “Dylan Ennis, he hit one I know at half, I think he made two. After that it was one guy, pretty much. Tyler Dorsey made eight of them. There were a couple of possessions, things that we talk about, basics that we go over, that we had breakdowns on. He got a couple open looks, and transition we lost him a couple of times. You let a guy like Tyler Dorsey study the rim a couple of times without anybody contesting his shot, he’s going to find his rhythm, and now he’s going to make everything, and I believe that’s what happened.”

(How concerning are those breakdowns at this point, almost halfway through the season?) “They’re definitely concerning. It happened at the end of the game against Washington State. So, definitely a pattern. It becomes concerning when it’s a pattern.”

(On why progress hasn’t shown up recently) “I don’t know. I can’t put my finger on it. But I know we’ve taken a step back that way. We’ve got to regroup. We definitely have to regroup.”

(On feeling pressure to start winning) “I’ve said this before – whatever I’m doing or a group is doing internally, the pressure mounts because you want to do well. You drop one, you drop two, yeah, the pressure mounts because we’ve got to get this thing right. For me, it’s not pressure in terms of – I want to be the best we can be every day. That’s the bottom line. And when that is not happening, that’s concerning for me as a head coach. What I need to do as a head coach is continue to work so that this stuff doesn’t happen.”

(You talked a lot last year about that team being so compliant and willing to do what you asked. Do you see the same thing from this group?) “They want to do what we ask them to do, but since this group has been in college, the sophomores included – and Malik has only been here one year – they were able to walk in and see a senior, Andrew Andrews, do what was supposed to be done. But by and large, we haven’t experienced that success yet. Dejounte Murray, Marquese Chriss, Andrew Andrews – those were some tough kids. Those are some really tough kids, and we would get down, things like that would happen … and there was grit with those guys. Now, we have to, as a group, find some others that are able to step up and start to show that grit. One of those guys that’s starting to step up to me is David Crisp. He’s starting to do that. You can just see it in his eyes. We need to do it more as a group.”

(Concerned to only score 61 points in this game?) “No, because that hasn’t been a pattern. Noah (Dickerson) was a double double machine until recently. Was it 19 he had against Washington State? Noah’s been a reliable scorer for us. David’s been a reliable scorer for us. Markelle’s been a reliable scorer for us. No need to push the panic button on that one yet. That’s probably the best thing that we’ve done. Oregon? They did a good job guarding us, and like I said, it seems like that’s kind of been their pattern. That’s why they’ve been a good team this year. They’ve been guarding really well. So I don’t think we can look at that as a team and say, ‘uh oh.’”

(On if he’s more fiery with players in the locker room than he is with media after losses) “I think our guys know when I’m not pleased, as head coach. I’m not as composed as I am now in front of them. But always trying to teach, always trying to teach and motivate.”

(On this loss putting more pressure on Saturday’s game vs. Oregon State) “Oh, we’ve got to play well. There’s no doubt about it. We’ve got to come out and play well on Saturday.”

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About Christian Caple

A proud native of Longview, Wash., Christian Caple joins The News Tribune after covering Washington State football and men's basketball for two years at the Spokesman-Review in Spokane (though he lived in Pullman). He is a 2010 graduate of the University of Washington, an avid NWAACC basketball fan, and is unsure how to proceed now that Breaking Bad is over.